(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus management system which manages the number of image formations performed by an image forming apparatus, such as a copying machine, on a user basis using a central accumulating apparatus.
(2) Related Art
Organizations such as companies may own a number of copying machines. A bill corresponding to the number of copying operations is issued regularly, for example, at the end of every month, to each section. To prepare this bill, the number of copying operations has to be accumulated for each section and for each copying machine. If this accumulating work is done by hand for each copying machine, it consumes a lot of time and effort. In recent years, there have been many cases where a system which manages the number of copying operations for each section with copying machines being connected respectively to a host computer through lines is used (hereafter, this system is referred to a "copying machine management system") to improve the efficiency of the accumulating work.
When using such a copying machine management system, a card magnetically recording an identification number of a section (such card is referred to as an "ID card" hereafter) is given to each section and each copying machine is provided with a management apparatus including a card reader which reads the identification number of the ID card. The card reader reads the identification number recorded on the ID card and compares it with identification numbers previously stored in the internal memory to determine if there is a match. Copying operations are only allowed when there is a match.
A memory which cumulatively stores the number of copying operations for each section is provided (the memory is referred to as the "management memory" hereafter) in the management apparatus. The management memory stores the number of copying operations for a section, which is allowed to use the copying machine, into the management memory area which corresponds to the section. The stored contents in the management memory are transmitted from the management apparatus to the central host computer regularly, for example, at the end of every month, through communication lines. The host computer receives the data, accumulates the number of copying operations for each section and generates the bills in accordance with instructions from an operator.
Using the copying machine management system, the number of copying operations stored in all the copying machines for each section are accumulated automatically. As a result, it contributes largely to the rationalization of clerical work.
In a large company, however, the number of sections using copying machines may exceed more than 100 sections. Except for copying machines installed in rooms such as conference rooms for common use, a copying machine of one section is not often used by the users belonging to other sections. Nevertheless, if the management memory of the management apparatus of each copying machine provides a memory area for storing the number of copying operations of all the sections as before, most of the memory capacity will go to waste, which is highly uneconomical.
Meanwhile, if a small amount of memory is used and the number of sections that can be handled by each copying machine is reduced, a user of one section may not be able to use the copying machines of other sections with the user's ID card. The user will then have to go back to his/her own section to make a copy, which is inconvenient and inefficient for clerical work.